Raymarine ST60 anemometer bearings

Iain C

Iain C

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Problem...my wind cups aren't going round in very light breeze, and I suspect the instruments are under-reading in the windier stuff too. I had this issue on my old boat and it was knackered bearings in the anemometer.

What do I need to do to change the bearings? Is it a DIY job? I believe that the bearing design changed in 2004, the exact age of my instruments, but the cups are the trapezoid shape rather than the oval ones if that means anything. I'd rather repair the existing anemometer than buy new for obvious reasons!

Also, the wind arrow on the ST60 instrument head seems to bear no relation to where the wind is coming from, however the display on the Axiom (which it's networked to) seems fine. Any ideas?

Thanks!
 
H

Hydrozoan

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I did it (fiddly, but not too difficult) with help from this forum - search and you will find a thread with very useful photos - but I cannot recall the shape of the cups. IIRC I replaced cups and vane as well, since they do become somewhat brittle.
 
KAL

KAL

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Mine is an ST50+. Does anyone know where you can get the replacement ‘O’ rings, as my kit didn’t include them?
 
Iain C

Iain C

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Thanks for all the help and links. I've done this tonight...not hard, just a bit fiddly.

One thing to add, after I replaced the shafts, I used a soldering iron to melt some pieces of the plastic housing to retain the bearings. When I was refitting the vane, I managed to pull the whole shaft/bearing assembly out again! Which reminded me of the time I got to the masthead of my mate's 42'er new vane in hand ready to fit, to find nothing to fit it to!

I have ordered new cups and vane...the vane is looking a bit bent and feeling a bit floppy and TBH having got this far for the sake of £38 (still ouch) I'd rather it was right for a few years...
 
Iain C

Iain C

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One other question/sanity check...

I was expecting some kind of reference/alignment point for the vane/direction side of the unit but there isn't one. I read the manual and you essentially calibrate the thing by motoring round in circles and then adjusting the control head accordingly. Is this correct, and you really don't need to worry about the orientation of the PCB and sensors in the tube of the masthead unit at all?

Thanks
 
dslittle

dslittle

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Ruffles said:
When mine stopped spinning I just sprayed liberally with silicon lube. Been fine for 10 years.
I imagine the bearings will be pitted and have slight play but I doubt it matters. Worth a go.
Click to expand...

Did mine last week with good/accurate result (luckily Marina has real time wind info to compare...)
When I first got it down, the spindle was really stiff and kept catching. I feared that the bearings had totally gone but sprayed with electrical contact water displacement spray (can’t remember name just now but bought on recommendation from Fotum). The spindle slowly (over a couple of minutes) freed itself until it eventually started to spin normally without any issues. Hopefully it will give me another ten years but it was a very easy fix (once it was down from the masthead...)
 
KAL

KAL

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Iain C said:
One other question/sanity check...

I was expecting some kind of reference/alignment point for the vane/direction side of the unit but there isn't one. I read the manual and you essentially calibrate the thing by motoring round in circles and then adjusting the control head accordingly. Is this correct, and you really don't need to worry about the orientation of the PCB and sensors in the tube of the masthead unit at all?

Thanks
Click to expand...
That’s right. There must be a magnet in the vane. You can adjust the display head by following instructions in the manual. IIRC, you press and hold CAL for 3 seconds then use the arrow keys to adjust the needle, once you’ve lined the vessel up into the wind.
 
Iain C

Iain C

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Great, thanks Kal. Just wanted to be 110% sure as I don't want to go aloft more than I need to.
 
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